Problem: $ E = \left[\begin{array}{rr}5 & 3 \\ -2 & 1\end{array}\right]$ $ D = \left[\begin{array}{rrr}4 & 1 & -2 \\ -1 & 5 & 0\end{array}\right]$ What is $ E D$ ?
Because $ E$ has dimensions $(2\times2)$ and $ D$ has dimensions $(2\times3)$ , the answer matrix will have dimensions $(2\times3)$ $ E D = \left[\begin{array}{rr}{5} & {3} \\ {-2} & {1}\end{array}\right] \left[\begin{array}{rrr}{4} & \color{#DF0030}{1} & \color{#9D38BD}{-2} \\ {-1} & \color{#DF0030}{5} & \color{#9D38BD}{0}\end{array}\right] = \left[\begin{array}{rrr}? & ? & ? \\ ? & ? & ?\end{array}\right] $ To find the element at any row $i$ , column $j$ of the answer matrix, multiply the elements in row $i$ of the first matrix, $ E$ , with the corresponding elements in column $j$ of the second matrix, $ D$ , and add the products together. So, to find the element at row 1, column 1 of the answer matrix, multiply the first element in ${\text{row }1}$ of $ E$ with the first element in ${\text{column }1}$ of $ D$ , then multiply the second element in ${\text{row }1}$ of $ E$ with the second element in ${\text{column }1}$ of $ D$ , and so on. Add the products together. $ \left[\begin{array}{rrr}{5}\cdot{4}+{3}\cdot{-1} & ? & ? \\ ? & ? & ?\end{array}\right] $ Likewise, to find the element at row 2, column 1 of the answer matrix, multiply the elements in ${\text{row }2}$ of $ E$ with the corresponding elements in ${\text{column }1}$ of $ D$ and add the products together. $ \left[\begin{array}{rrr}{5}\cdot{4}+{3}\cdot{-1} & ? & ? \\ {-2}\cdot{4}+{1}\cdot{-1} & ? & ?\end{array}\right] $ Likewise, to find the element at row 1, column 2 of the answer matrix, multiply the elements in ${\text{row }1}$ of $ E$ with the corresponding elements in $\color{#DF0030}{\text{column }2}$ of $ D$ and add the products together. $ \left[\begin{array}{rrr}{5}\cdot{4}+{3}\cdot{-1} & {5}\cdot\color{#DF0030}{1}+{3}\cdot\color{#DF0030}{5} & ? \\ {-2}\cdot{4}+{1}\cdot{-1} & ? & ?\end{array}\right] $ Fill out the rest: $ \left[\begin{array}{rrr}{5}\cdot{4}+{3}\cdot{-1} & {5}\cdot\color{#DF0030}{1}+{3}\cdot\color{#DF0030}{5} & {5}\cdot\color{#9D38BD}{-2}+{3}\cdot\color{#9D38BD}{0} \\ {-2}\cdot{4}+{1}\cdot{-1} & {-2}\cdot\color{#DF0030}{1}+{1}\cdot\color{#DF0030}{5} & {-2}\cdot\color{#9D38BD}{-2}+{1}\cdot\color{#9D38BD}{0}\end{array}\right] $ After simplifying, we end up with: $ \left[\begin{array}{rrr}17 & 20 & -10 \\ -9 & 3 & 4\end{array}\right] $